Robodebt was not the first welfare algorithm to falsely accuse beneficiaries of fraud. Seeking to avoid these problems, New Mexico opted for a nudge-based system instead.
For everything we do in public sectors, it is when we collaborate and draw on broader expertise and experiences that we get better outcomes. So, if is it such a biological imperative, why does participatory public governance seem so alien or novel to so many?
“Many hands make light work” is an old adage both familiar and comforting. One feels that if things get out of hand we can just throw more resources at the problem and it will suffice. However, we have made it harder on ourselves in three distinct ways, all of which are relevant to planning and programs in the public sector.
Nearly 10 years since the launch of YourSAy, the platform now facilitates an average of 65 campaigns per year for an enviable 117k users — marking about 10% of South Australia’s adult population.
“Data sharing” has become a rather conflated discussion where all data is often assumed to be the same and the same solutions or frameworks that suit one need are assumed to suit everything. There is an overarching and growing myth that sharing more data will naturally lead to better outcomes and that we just need to get around these ‘pesky barriers’ to sharing data and things will be great. Although Pia Andrews still believes open data is important for democracy, economy and society, she knows that when it comes to sensitive data, especially unit record data with personal information, more sharing is simply not always the answer.
Governments seeking to implement public health policy often face intense lobbying from industries vying to protect commercial interests. Verity Firth, former Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney and NSW Labor Minister provides her insights into how governments can strike the right balance in delivering better health and social outcomes, and how public health advocates can ensure their voices are heard.
How do you build responsiveness to ongoing developments into a work program? And what inputs do you need to understand and respond to change? Pia Andrews gives some suggestions.
While the case for joined-up-government and cross-sectoral partnerships appears to have been convincingly made, the question of how to make this happen effectively still looms large. Many articles and studies focus on the institutional barriers that make it hard for governments to work collaboratively. However, while that is certainly important, Thea Snow focuses on a piece of the puzzle that is often neglected: the role of individuals in supporting collaboration to succeed.
How often do you have a chance to think about the long-term impact of what you are doing right now? How often do you consider (or get supported to consider) how a long-term goal should change what you are doing right now?
A memo to the APS from Jason Lange, Executive Director of The Office of Best Practice Regulation in the Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet.
Each year, more Victorians die from prescription medications than road accidents or illicit drugs. And yet until recently, there was no reliable way for doctors and pharmacists to know whether their patient was already seeing other practitioners to bump up their dosage. It's been described as a game of Russian roulette for doctors — they don't know where the potential bullets are for any particular patient. But that's changing.
Despite the sheer scalability, connectivity, and use as highways for political messaging and public debate, most social media platforms were not designed with the purpose of engagement on policy issues . The repercussions for governments are not to be taken lightly. So, where do governments begin? Audrey Lobo-Pulo shows the way.
Trust is hard when you are so many things to so many people, especially when you are both the social worker and the cop. So, trust arguably needs to be about ensuring you are seen as trustworthy, fair, accountable and values-driven. Trust is something you need to earn every day, not something you ask for.
Peter Shergold didn’t mean to stay in the public service but ended up running the place. And well over a decade since he left his final post as the Secretary to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and therefore as head of the Australian public service, he’s still, by his own admission, fighting the fight.
Even if people are motivated to understand something fundamentally new to their worldview, it doesn’t necessarily translate into how they behave. It is easier to improve something than change it. Pia Andrews provides some food for thought to encourage greater collective urgency for reforming the public sector to reflect the changing world and what sort of future we need and want as a society.
